I had my mom try the air-dried cheddar on a cracker (without telling her what it was first.) Her first response was "mmm, this is good." When I asked her what it tasted like, she said "Cheese. It tastes like sharp cheddar. Exactly like sharp cheddar..." Considering sharp cheddar is her favorite, I'm marking this one down in the Omni-win column. Unfortunately it never got to truly sliceable, it's still very spreadable, the taste is great and is perfectly able to meet any cheddar cravings I may have.

Speaking of, I tried it with a veggie burger and it was perfect.

One question I have about the yogurt. I was trying to be thrifty and follow the same method, just without cashews to have yogurt just to eat. Massive fail. It never thickened up at all and didn't even get yogurty. What magic do cashews bring to the party? I would love to make my kiddo homemade yogurt to take for lunch, but would prefer leave out nuts since there's an allergy in her class and I don't want to take chances.

The cashews serve simply to make a richer-tasting yogurt. If you want to avoid them and are using a commercial soy milk, you might try simmering the soy milk to reduce it by about 20%. This will make a richer-tasting yogurt. If your yogurt didn't thicken at all, there are two possibilities: 1) the heat was too high and it killed the culture, 2) the heat was too low for it to grow. Invest in a thermometer ($10) and make sure the milk is 110 degrees F when you add the starter yogurt. To maintain that temperature, put it in a oven at that temperature, or wrap it in a blanket and set in a warm place. My yogurt is perfect at around 5 hours. It's not quite firm at 4, and at 6, it starts to separate.

So, 12 hours in and my cream cheese is wildly fermenting. I opened it to give it a smell test and it has expanded in size and made a seal with the lid of the jar from the increasing pressure. Is this right? Normal? Smells... Like sourdough...

It must be really warm down in SoCal if only after 12 hours it is wildly fermenting. It takes me 48 hours in NorCal. But yes, it will expland, get airy looking, etc. But too rapid a fermentation does not allow for the best development of flavor. Slower culturing is better, but it sounds like yours is already done. Taste it and see if it is tangy. If so, move it to the fridge where it will get very thick overnight.

I realised the other day that I'd almost finished off my gouda without taking photos! So here are a couple for me to reminisce over once it's all gone (which will be like three minutes after I get home from work tonight).

I kept my old cheese board and knives around in the hopes that I would have fancy vegan cheeses to use them with one day!

Air dried gouda...

And sharp cheddar and gruyere!

I'm going to stock up on macadamias after I get paid tomorrow, to give the macadamia ricotta a try.

I realised the other day that I'd almost finished off my gouda without taking photos! So here are a couple for me to reminisce over once it's all gone (which will be like three minutes after I get home from work tonight).

I kept my old cheese board and knives around in the hopes that I would have fancy vegan cheeses to use them with one day!

Air dried gouda...

And sharp cheddar and gruyere!

:) Great photos! Can I share them on my blog? Actually, we are going to be having an internet campaign for the book that starts Nov. 1. We will be having a photo contest. I hope you submit your photos! You'll have a chance to win some nice prizes.

I'm going to stock up on macadamias after I get paid tomorrow, to give the macadamia ricotta a try.

:) Great photos! Can I share them on my blog? Actually, we are going to be having an internet campaign for the book that starts Nov. 1. We will be having a photo contest. I hope you submit your photos! You'll have a chance to win some nice prizes.

Of course! And I'll keep an eye out for it. Maybe it's the excuse I need to make more cheese! (Except I don't need an excuse, I'm going to make more anyway.)

Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2010 1:23 pmPosts: 555Location: *the* state with the only votes that matter

I am finally getting into this book and am in love. I started with the basic cashew, then divided into quarters and made the boursin, sun-dried tomato basil, and chevre. Just made the sharp cheddar (it's not even in the fridge yet), and it tastes so perfect. I'm doing the brie, then on to the air-dried.

So, 12 hours in and my cream cheese is wildly fermenting. I opened it to give it a smell test and it has expanded in size and made a seal with the lid of the jar from the increasing pressure. Is this right? Normal? Smells... Like sourdough...

It must be really warm down in SoCal if only after 12 hours it is wildly fermenting. It takes me 48 hours in NorCal. But yes, it will expland, get airy looking, etc. But too rapid a fermentation does not allow for the best development of flavor. Slower culturing is better, but it sounds like yours is already done. Taste it and see if it is tangy. If so, move it to the fridge where it will get very thick overnight.

It's SO tangy, but also creamy. Maybe the fact that I baked a lasagna that day and warmed up the house sped it up?! Next time we're going to try setting it out of the kitchen to culture to see if it goes a bit slower.

I started new air-dried Cheddar today. I doubled the recipe. I'm out of nutritional yeast now.

I calculated the cost and, it turns out, the ingredients for my home-made Cheddar are almost as expensive here as Sheese Cheddar (not available here, but I buy it in Slovenia) for the same weight.

Agar powder is 3.5 USD for the amount used in doubled recipe. Nutritional yeast is 8 USD for 150 grams (and I need 80 grams for doubled recipe), and it's sold only in packages this size, no bulk. Medium brown miso is 12 USD for 400 g (and I need 120 grams for doubled recipe). A kilo of cashews is 16 USD (I need 400 g for doubled recipe). Plain soya yoghurt is 6 USD for half a litre (the amount needed for doubled recipe, unfortunately, I wasn't able to make my own this time). Tapioca, salt (I use half KCl, half NaCl, so it is expensive), wine (I got home-made), grains for rejuvelac, add to the price.

I expect doubled recipe to yield one kilo of finished air-dried Cheddar. I hope nothing goes wrong with fermentation and it doesn't get mouldy.

I downloaded a sample of the book on my Kindle and it looks interesting. Making rejuvelac seems intimidating, so I may just buy it to try one of the cashew cheese recipes. The sample included recipes for a few of the soft cheeses plus gruyere and cheddar.

_________________Again, you are all brilliant and sexy. And I am lavender-laden and secure in my masculinity. - Sir Brancis Facon

bunniee - if you look back a few pages, you'll see some really helpful tips. I use quinoa, and it came out fantastic. :)

Okay - I am making mozzarella + pub cheddar. (I actually bought BEER to make this. I don't drink period and so I hope I don't get sick when I add it in). but the pub cheddar tastes pretty dang good. I use a Ninja and it never really gets everything super whizzy creamy. (actually for the mozzarella I had to use my food processor). I think next time what I'll have to do is put the rejuvalac first, and then add everything so it can pull everything down.

Either I am slow.... or there is a trick to make some of the cheese. I also blame my ninja. Dear Santa: at least a blendtec please...

Anyhoo, I've got the mozz. sitting in the brine in the fridge, and the pub-cheddar tomorrow.

What is the problem? Yes, there is a trick to the cheeses. If your Ninja isn't great, soak your nuts longer (a full 8 hours), and puree them in 2 batches. Any other issues I might be able to help you with?

Hm. My mozzarella is really squishy.(and it stopped tasting like mozzarella. Or. you know It's just been so long since I've had it, I can't remember it. But is it supposed to be squishy? I should be able to cut it right?)

Can the cheese be whizzed up in the food processor, (or is there a danger of butterizing the nuts instead of making it into a creamy cheese?). I did have some issues with the agar process. I boiled the water and then added the agar and I got a nice thick gloppy gel happening but it never really mixed well with the cheese. (AND I did use some xantham gum). When you do the agar step is it supposed to get "gel-like" like you have to scrape every bit in, or is it supposed to be a liquid with a slight set? (Mine set so fast!)

(When I soaked my nuts, it was about.... 9-10 hours. so I am thinking maybe add a bit of the soaking liquid in, or should i put the rejuvalac in there first to pull the nuts down?)

(and THANK YOU in advance) :)

(Also, I don't trust myself to make yoghurt. would Nancy's plain soy yoghurt work? that's the only one I have up here that, or an Almond based one, and the coconut one).